


Home Alone

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Zine Promos [11]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Horror, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Creepy, Home Invasion, Horror, M/M, Polyamory, Scary, Serial Killers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: What's the irony that a man working on a horror project would end up experiencing a real life horror, right there, in his own home?
Relationships: Atem/Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi, Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto/Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Series: Zine Promos [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551694
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Home Alone

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be for the Yugioh horror zine, https://ygohorrorzine.tumblr.com/ , but I ultimately decided to do something else for it (I actually will have a few peices in it!) so I'm posting this here now :)

_I was traveling alone that evening, as I often did, being a trucker doesn't exactly afford me many travel companions, I remember feeling fine when I left the warehouse, but by the time I got half-way to Orlando, I realized that something was terribly, terribly wrong..._

Something was terribly wrong alright- this paint job

Joey dragged his fingers through his hair out of frustration, staring down at the banner on the table and scrunching his face up

He couldn't pinpoint what it was, but something was just... _off_

The colors maybe?

Grabbing his phone from across the table, he positioned it over the banner and snapped a picture, quickly texting it to his boyfreinds in their group chat

_Half-way there, something's missing, thoughts?_

Meanwile, the scary story playlist he had pulled up on YouTube continued to sound from his iPad as it sat neatly on the other side of the kitchen table, vague spooky imagery on the screen as the calm, smooth voice narrated stories from Reddit

The irony of the entire thing was that Joey wasn't even a horror fan, he kind of hated horror honestly, not because of some moral superiority or anything stupid like that, but rather.... well, he scared easily

Yet somehow--

_*Ping!*_

His eyes flicked down to his phone, scanning the messages as they started coming in

**Yugi:** _Looks good to me! Maybe it'll look better to you once it's done? :)_

**Atem:** _Agreed, I like the blood splatter effect, but nothing looks quite right when it's unfinished_

**Seto:** _Your "a"s are crooked and the last "h" is cut off_

Squinting, Joey hurriedly typed back a reply

**Joey** _Gee thanks Captain Obvious, I hadn't noticed_

**Seto:** _Take a calligraphy class_

**Joey:** _BITE ME_

**Seto:** _Is that a challenge or an offer?_

**Yugi:** _Please stop; it's fine if the letters are a little crooked, adds to the spooky style! :)_

**Seto:** _Yes, bad handwriting is a much bigger horror than anything we could have come up with_

**Atem:** _@Joey, Yugi called, he's speaking with Seto on the phone now_

Joey only snorted, wondering in the back of his mind how any of them actually served as a functional relationship when banter seemed to make up so much of their daily conversations

**Joey:** _Thank 'im for me, when're you guys comin' home anyway? It's gettin' late even by your standards_

**Atem:** _Sorry, Seto and I are doing our last run-through of the game now, Yugi should be home sooner, inventory though..._

Right, the price of working at a game shop

Joey wouldn't lie, sometimes he felt left out when the three of them all had to work late

It was kind of expected of Atem and Seto, with the latter owning the biggest gaming corporation in the world and the former working for him as a pro-gamer, hours ran late all the time

Yugi worked at his grandfather's game shop though, and usually had pretty nice hours, but occasionally had to work over time for things like inventory

And that just left Joey, to himself, alone, in a huge house, with no company but the dog and the cat

On nights like these, cold and rainy and mid-autumn, it was even kind of... creepy....

**Joey:** _Right, no worries, I'm gonna bake something for you guys for when you finally get your asses home, after the banner's done_

What followed was a flurry of heart emojis from Atem, actually tugging a smile from Joey's face as he set the phone down, rewound the video- he'd missed the last five minutes really- and dipped his brush back into the blood red paint beside him

_There was some static on the radio, but I swore, as I pulled up to the gas station, that I could hear screaming-_

A loud clap of thunder suddenly sounded outside, wich startled the dog, who had been sleeping at Joey's feet under the table

With a yelp, the dog sprang up, nocking into Joey's legs and forcing the table to jostle, red paint suddenly toppling over and spilling all over the artist

"Ah goddammit Kujo!" he cursed, looking down at the damage

By some streak of luck the banner was unharmed, the artist, on the other hand, looked like the prime suspect at a murder investigation, with red paint splattered all over his arms, soaking through his shirt and smattering his pants, a few droplets even kicked up against his face

"Shit..."

With a sigh, he paused the video and trudged upstairs, disrobing along the way and quickly rinsing the clothes out in the tub before putting them in the washing machine

He debated breifly on the best solution for himself before ultimately deciding to take a shower, the paint having smattered against more bare skin than he initially realized

Besides, he'd spent most of the day crafting, painting, and otherwise working with artistic materials, he was sweaty and had various colors blotched against him by now, a shower would be nice

The thing is, Joey had never really intended to be an artist, it had just sort of... _happened_

He and Yugi had met in highschool and become fast freinds, neither of them knew they were bi at the time, not until Atem came along a few years later and awakened their sexualities

Yugi and Atem had gotten on like long-lost soulmates, Joey had felt like a third weel until they discovered the polyamory thing, and for a wile that was just what it was- three boyfreinds, unattached to eachother career wise

At the time Joey had been working in construction, only doing art on his own on the side, until one Halloween when they decided to do some spooky videos for their YouTube channels

The videos had become massive hits and the trio had started talking about making their own horror game, a visual novel thing like Doki Doki Literature Club or Dream Daddy, they'd incidentally been discussing it at Atem's office when Seto had overheard and decided to produce the game for them through Kaiba Corp

That had not only tugged him into the relationship, but also had given Joey the opportunity to quit construction and work on the game full time, along with everything that it needed to be a success

Like promotional materials, wich he had been working on all day

He sighed as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, dragged his fingers down it as the hot water pounded over him, a mix of colors bleeding from his stained skin and down into the shower drain

He felt good like this, at peace...

_"Joey!!!!"_

Eyes snapping open, the blonde's heart nearly beat out of his chest

Had he just... heard that...?

_"JOEY!!!!!"_

He'd _definitely_ heard that

The sound of his name was followed by muffled screams, his heart racing as he quickly shut off the shower and grabbed his towel, not even bothering to dry off as he raced out of the bathroom and started looking around

"Yugi!?"

...

"'Tem!?"

...

"Kaiba if this is your idea of a joke it ain't funny!!"

...

Had he... really just imagined it...?

Swallowing, he decided he was clean enough, he could shower properly later, he only had needed to wash off the paint anyway and... mission accomplished

He dried off quickly, getting dressed a second later as he glanced out the window at the storm outside

The rain was really pouring....

Shaking his head, he forced himself to get dressed again and head back downstairs, settling in at the kitchen table and grabbing another bottle of red paint to work on the banner with

He pressed "play" on the video, the smooth voice of the YouTuber narrating keeping his mind focused

...Atleast... _mostly_ focused...

He felt weirdly anxious though, he was on edge and had started texting his boyfreinds every few minutes, even though he didn't get many replies, given that they were all busy, he just wanted to feel less alone

The thought occurred to him that maybe he should switch from scary stories to music, help ease his mind, but that seemed kind of like the chicken thing to do and Joey was _definitely_ not a chicken

Instead, about an hour later, he decided to take a break and get something to eat, hoping the food and doing something with a little more thought required behind it would serve his purposes better

He moved his iPad to the kitchen counter, right as the last video he had been listening to was ending, but as he looked at the "recommended" list next to the video, he spotted something kind of... strange...

The thumbnail looked a little like his kitchen...

_Scary videos to keep you up at night_ was the title, and he found himself unable to resist the temptation of clicking on it

Instead of a narrator or a show host speaking when the video started though, Joey watched with increasing discomfort as a black and white screen popped up, like security camera footage, and showed his kitchen.... and him, _in_ the kitchen, wearing the same clothes he was wearing now, standing in the same place, and watching the iPad, just as he was doing at that very moment

More than a little unnerved, he took a few steps back and watched in terror as the version of him on the screen did the same

Someone was recording him

Someone was recording him and livestreaming it

Without a second thought, he hurried to grab his phone from the table and pressed Yugi's name in the contact list, knowing he was the most likely to pick up

"Kujo!! Sookie!!"

To his releif, the large black dog came prancing up to him the minute Kujo heard his name, and a quiet _Mew_ sounded off in the corner of the living room, not far from where the blonde was

"C'mon.... pick up.. pick up..." he muttered into the phone, scooping up the cat in one hand and opening the door with the other

Not for the first time he was relieved that Seto Kaiba was one of the few people in Japan to have a garage

_"Hello?"_

"Yug!" Joey sighed with releif, opening the backdoor for the car and shoving the cat inside, Kujo following close behind and having the door shut nearly on his tail in Joey's haste as the blonde climbed into the driver's side and locked them in

_"Joey? What's-"_

"Somebody's filming me!"

_"....What?"_

Shit... shit shit he'd forgotten his keys...

"Somebody is recording me! There's a video on YouTube called 'scary videos to keep you up at night' and it's just... it's just... livestreamed footage of our house!" he explained quickly, running out of the car and back into the house

_"Where are you now?"_

Yugi's voice was tense, but otherwise calm, not panicked, not terrified, and Joey was thankfull for his natural ease

"Kitchen, I'm lookin' for my keys, Kuj and Sook are already in the car, I'm gettin' the hell outta here!"

Keys keys keys.... where were the damn keys?!?

_"That's a good idea,"_

Found them!!

Snatching the keys from the counter, Joey spun on his heel and started for the door again, only to pause suddenly

_"You should go to Tristan's, he should be home, he-"_

"Yug..." he interrupted slowly, a pit starting to form in his stomach

"Did any of you guys go into the basement earlier?"

_"The basement? No... I don't think so, why?"_

"'Cause.... I can see the light on under the door..."

There was light... and _water_ , dripped by the front of the basement door...

Another clap of thunder sounded, right when Yugi's voice cut through again

_"Do you have your keys?"_

"...Yeah..."

_"Then get out of there- **NOW** ,"_

Joey didn't need to be told twice, he booked it back into the garage, slamming the door behind him as he sprinted into the car and jammed the key into the ignition, his heart racing as he hurriedly grabbed the garage door remote from the console and opened the door, headlights flashing as he started the car and put it in reverse, slamming down on the gas pedal

There were no cars in the driveway, there was nothing outside to indicate that anyone else was there, but as Joey backed out of the driveway and pressed down on the remote again to close the garage door, he glanced up at the house, and made eye contact with the man in the window, staring at him, smirking at him, and waving at him

~+~

"That was too close of a call,"

"Agreed,"

"And what would you two have us do then? We can't tell him the truth,"

Yugi and Atem were quiet for a few moments, exchanging glances, but neither of them speaking right away

"We'll have to, someday," Atem finally concluded, stepping around the table and grabbing a pair of gloves

"Atem is right, we can't possibly keep this from him forever, especially given what just happened," Yugi agreed, arms crossed over his chest

"I still don't think he could handle it," Seto insisted, his eyes narrowing as he walked closer to the table, adjusting the overhead light and reaching for the tool nearest to him

"Joey isn't as naive or childish as I think you believe he is, you thought I couldn't handle it either, remember? But-"

"I know, I was proven wrong, don't rub it in my face,"

Rolling his eyes, Yugi reached into the sleeve on the table, pulling out a nicely polished blade barely smaller than the one Seto was brandishing

"It's better if we just tell him, rather than letting him stumble into it on his own, and after tonight, we can't keep taking risks,"

"Agreed," Atem nodded, pulling a larger blade out of the cloth sleeve and giving it an elegant twirl before staring down at the terrified expression on the man's face beneath them

"After all, if our 'freind' here hadn't been so arrogant, he may have actually hurt Joey,"

Gracefully, he plunged the blade into the other man's chest, smirking as blood began to trickle out of the wound

"And we can't allow that, now can we?"


End file.
